Improvement in street-railways



J. R. BEG KETT.

Street Railways.

142,668, PatentedSeptemberQ,i873. I

Wfam

JOHN It. BEGKETT, OF OUSHING, MAINE, ASSIGNOB TO HIMSELF AND CALVIN B.PAYSON, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN STREET-RAILWAYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 142,668., datedSeptember 9, 1873; application filed August 20, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. BEOKETT, of Gushing, in the county of Knoxand State of Maine, have invented an Improvement in the Construction ofRoad-Beds for Horse-Railroads, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsmaking .part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of a portion of the road-bed of a horse-railroad constructed inaccordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through thesame.

Road-beds for horse-railroads as now constructed consist of longitudinalwooden strin gers resting upon transverse wooden sleepers or ties, towhich they are secured by anglebraces bolted to the sleepers andstringers on each side of the latter, the whole being so placed that theupper surface of the rails which are bolted onto the stringers will beon a level with the top of the surrounding pavement. The stringers,being merely confined near the bottom by the braces, which extend up ashort distance only, are, however, liable to be rocked outward or spreadapart by the passage over them of the cars or heavy wagons and thisspreading of the track is a serious objection, as it often causes thecars to be thrown from the rails, and necessitates the digging up of thestreet in order to replace the stringers and secure them in'position. Myinvention has for its object to prevent the spreading of the stringers,and, at the same time, to enable me to dispense with the transversewooden sleepers and greatly reduce the number of spikes required tosecure the stringers in place, whereby a great saving in the cost ofconstructing the road-bed is effected; and my invention consists in aroad bed for horse-railroads composed of longitudinal stringers unitedtogether by metal braces of peculiar construction extending transverselybetween them, whereby they are held firmly together both at the top andbottom, so that there is no possibility of their spreading, thestringers resting directly on the earth, instead of on transversesleepers, which are thus dispensed with, enabling me to save their cost,as well as that of setting them in the ground.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention,I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the said drawings, A A represent the longitudinal wooden stringers onwhich the rails or are laid. These stringers rest directly on the earth,which is excavated to receive them to such a depth that the rails, whensecured thereon, will lie flush with, or slightly below, the top of thepavement. b b are wrought-iron braces, which extend between thestringers A A, and are secured thereto at suitable distances apart, sayfrom five to seven feet. Each of these braces b is bifurcated at eachend, the lower branch, 5, being curved downward, and extending to ornearly to the bottom of the stringer, where it is securely fastened by aspike or bolt, 0, driven into the inner side of the stringer, while theupper or horizontal end of the brace is let in flush with or a littlebelow the upper surface of the stringer, where it is held by a spike orbolt, (1, the head of which is countersunk flush with the upper surfaceof the brace, which is intended to lie about one inch and a half belowthe upper surface of the pavement, and to be covered with gravel. "Thestringers A A are thus held rigidly by the bifurcated ends of the bracesboth at the top and bottom, any

strain which may tend to spread the stringers apart being brought uponthe bolts 61 in a direction at right angles to their length, andconsequently there is no liability of their being drawn or loosened, asis the case with the bolts used to fasten the angle-braces heretoforeemployed; furthermore, but four spikes are required to fasten each ofthe braces b, while twelve spikes are required to secure the four angle-braces heretofore employed to fasten the stringers to eachtransverse wooden sleeper, and these sleepers being dispensed with, aswell as the angle-braces, I am also enabled to save their cost, togetherwith the labor of setting the sleepers in the ground, thus effecting agreat saving in the cost of constructing the road-bed, which, bymyimprovement, is rendered much stronger and more durable thanheretofore, and all liability of the tracks spreading and causing thecars to run off the rails is nigma thus entirely avoided. The contiguousends of the stringers A A are held together by iron plates 0 bolted oneach side, care being taken ers A A, united by bifurcated metallicbraces b extending transversely between them, substantially in themanner and for the purpose not to make the joint formed by the union ofdescribed.

Witness my hand this 13th day of August, A. D. 1873.

JOHN R. BEGKETT.

In presence of P. E. TESOHEMAOHER, W. J. CAMBRIDGE.

